As the name implies, it's a giant bee that features an estimated wingspan of about two and a half inches wide, and easily dwarfs the size of normal bees. However, it's been thought the bee was lost to science since 1981.

They thought wrong. It's making a comeback in 2019.

Photographer Clay Bolt and other members of Global Wildlife Conservation recently explored the North Moluccas islands in Indonesia. Clay Bolt himself can tell you how they stumbled upon this rare stinging insect.

The female giant bee seen above makes her nest in active arboreal termite mounds in trees. While termites are an enemy of the bee, she protects herself using her large mandibles to collect sticky tree resin to provide a barrier between them and her nest.

The bee was discovered by British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace in Indonesia in 1958. The female bee he discovered was about four times larger than a European honeybee. To put that into better perspective for you, the bee was about as long as your thumb.

The last sighting of Wallace's giant bee was in 1981. Since 2001 alone, Indonesia has lost about 15-percent of its tree cover, leading many scientists to believe the bee has gone missing.

The Global Wildlife Conservation leads to protections for the Wallace's giant bee species going forward.